Requested a simple funeral.

Have you ever had a craving for chocolate? To satisfy your sweet tooth, did you buy a candy bar, with or without almonds, wrapped in brown paper with silver print? If so, you owe that spectacular sugar rush to confectioner and brilliant businessman Milton S, Hershey.

Milton Snavely Hershey was born Sept. 13, 1857, in a Mennonite community. His limited formal education came to an end in 1871 when he left the fourth grade to work for a printer. He eventually lost his job but became an apprentice to a confectioner and developed an interest in candy making. Before long, he was selling caramel candies from a cart for 5 cents each.

Hershey’s Lancaster Caramel Company, launched in 1883, was the first to manufacture caramel using fresh milk. He later sold the company for $1 million, bought back his family homestead land and built an experimental chocolate factory that became the Hershey Chocolate Company and created thousands of jobs. The first Hershey’s candy bar was produced in 1900, followed by Hershey’s Kisses in 1907.